Climate Change

“It now appears likely that a potentially significant and likely warm atmospheric river event will affect some portion of Northern or Central California sometime between about late Thursday and Saturday.”

Watch for transportation agencies and departments to begin looking beyond the cadre of civil engineers as they tackle social equity and previously unrealized challenges like extreme weather.

Following rare blizzard warnings in Southern California counties, plus snowfall at unusually low levels, Interstate 5 has been closed in both directions over the Grapevine.

Heavy rain and wind gusts up to 50 mph are expected on Thursday with an atmospheric river system moving through Southern California over the weekend and into next week.

National mapping efforts that compile environmental data offer a resource that can be used by government agencies of different levels to help them make data-informed planning and response decisions.

New incentives — like the ones offered in Denver — are promising to advance the adoption of e-bikes and are fueling calls for the devices to be seen as essential parts of the evolving transportation ecosystem.

New electric loads — like those brought about by electric vehicles and heat pumps — will likely force upgrades to home electric systems and building codes, experts say. The real challenge will be making changes consistently.

To accept the contention there's still a statewide drought, you need to change the conventional meaning of the word. Of course, we've done that with lots of words in my lifetime. No need to go into that here.

California, always a state of extremes, rarely faces one quite like this. After three years of drought, the state’s snowpack is suddenly the deepest it’s been on record for mid-January. Most spots in the Sierra already have far more snow today than is usually measured on April 1.

Federal assistance will reimburse local and state governments for 75% of the cost to repair infrastructure and other necessities. It will also provide assistance for individual programs based on need and how much insurance residents have.

Communities that consider themselves “safe” from sea level rise might need to think otherwise, said Kris May, a lead author of the report and founder of Pathways Climate Institute, a research-based consulting firm in San Francisco that helps cities adapt to climate change.

The relatively new and potentially dangerous phenomenon of chemicals from wildfire smoke finding their way into water systems is occurring after ‘high severity’ fires, and scientists are just now learning about it.

Though the Russian River began receding Tuesday after peaking just below flood stage in the early morning, another round of sustained rainfall predicted to come through Wednesday and Thursday is expected to drive it upward again.

The back-to-back atmospheric rivers that have battered the Golden State have led to at least 17 deaths, including those of two motorists who died early Tuesday in a crash on Highway 99 when a tree that had been struck by lightning fell onto the road.

A project from the University of Maine monitors soil moisture using AI that over time learns to make a sensor network as efficient as possible, creating a low-energy way to track climate change impacts on natural environments.

“The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency."

People who rely on electricity for medical devices, people in flood-risk areas as well as unsheltered homeless people are at the greatest risk of harm, and emergency officials urged Sacramento residents to seek shelter or stay at home.

Enpira is one of a dozen companies selected for the Govtech Accelerator Program by CivStart, to further develop its business model and technology for the government sector markets.